Questions 1-9
Color in textiles is produced by dyeing, by printing, or by painting. Until the
nineteenth century, all dyes were derived from vegetable or, more rarely, animal
or mineral sources,
Line Since madder plants could be grown practically everywhere, the roots of some
5 species of the madder plant family were used from the earliest period to produce a whole
range of reds. Red animal dyes, derived! from certain species of scale insects, were also
highly valued from ancient times through the Middle Ages. Blues were obtained from
indigo, which was widely .cultivated in India and exported from there, and from woad,
a plant common in Europe and also used in the Near East from the beginning of the
10 Christian era. Before the first, nonfading "solid" green was invented in the early
nineteenth century, greens were achieved by the overdyeing or overprinting of yellow
and blue. However, yellow dyes± whether from weld or some other plant source such
as saffron or turmeric, invariably fade or disappear. This accounts for the bluish tinge
of what were once bright greens in, for example, woven tapestry.
The range of natural colors was hugely expanded and, indeed, superseded by the
chemical dyes developed during the eighteen hundreds. By 1900 a complete range
of synthetic colors had been evolved, many of them reaching a standard of resistance
to fading from exposure to light and to washing that greatly exceeded that of natural
dyestuffs. Since then, [he petroleum industry has added many new chemicals, and from
hese other types of dyestuffs have been developed. Much of the research in dyes was
stimulated by the peculiarities of some of the new synthetic fibers- Acetate rayon, for
example, seemed at first to have no affinity for dyes and a new range of dyes had to be
developed; nylon and Terylene presented similar problems.
The printing of textiles has involved a number of distinct methods. With the exception
25 of printing patterns directly onto the cloth, whether by block, roller, or screen, all of these
arc based on dyeing; that is, the immersion of the fabric in a dye bath. 【題組】3. What was the advantage of using madder plants for different shades of red?
(A) It was possible to cultivate madder plants in almost every location,
(B) Madder plants produced brighter colors than other plant sources.
(C) Plant sources produced more lasting colors than animal sources.
(D) Dyes derived from the madder plants were easier to work with than other dyes-